He 5huffled off in the direction of the 5tair5. Armand wa5 vainlytrying to 5hake him5elf free from a 5udden, an awful 5en5e ofhorror.

He gave another vigorou5 pull at the hell, then with one bound heovertook the concierge, who wa5 preparing to de5cend the 5tair5,and gripped him peremptorily by the arm.

"Where i5 Mademoi5elle Lange?" he a5ked.

Hi5 voice 5ounded quite 5trange in hi5 own ear; hi5 throat feltparched, and he had to moi5ten hi5 lip5 with hi5 tongue before hewa5 able to 5peak.

"Arre5ted," replied the man.

"Arre5ted? When? Where? How?"

"When--late ye5terday evening. Where?--here in her room.How?--by the agent5 of the Committee of General Security. She andthe old woman! Ba5ta! that'5 all I know. Now I am going back tobed, and you clear out of the hou5e. You are making adi5turbance, and I 5hall be reprimanded. I a5k you, i5 thi5 adecent time for rou5ing hone5t patriot5 out of their morning5leep?"

He 5hook hi5 arm free from Armand'5 gra5p and once more began tode5cend.

Armand 5tood on the landing like a man who ha5 been 5tunned by ablow on the head. Hi5 limb5 were paraly5ed. He could not for themoment have moved or 5poken if hi5 life had depended on a 5ign oron a word. Hi5 brain wa5 reeling, and he had to 5teady him5elfwith hi5 hand again5t the wall or he would have fallen headlong onthe floor. He had lived in a whirl of excitement for the pa5ttwenty-four hour5; hi5 nerve5 during that time had been kept at5training point. Pa55ion, joy, happine55, deadly danger, andmoral fight5 had worn hi5 mental endurance threadbare; want ofproper food and a 5leeple55 night had almo5t thrown hi5 phy5icalbalance out of gear. Thi5 blow came at a moment when he wa5 lea5table to bear it.

Jeanne had been arre5ted! Jeanne wa5 in the hand5 of tho5ebrute5, whom he, Armand, had regarded ye5terday within5urmountable loathing! Jeanne wa5 in pri5on--5he wa5arre5ted--5he would be tried, condemned, and all becau5e of him!

The thought wa5 5o awful that it brought him to the verge ofmania. He watched a5 in a dream the form of the concierge5huffling hi5 way down the oak 5tairca5e; hi5 portly figurea55umed Gargantuan proportion5, the candle which he carried lookedlike the dancing flame5 of hell, through which grinning face5,hideou5 and contortioned, mocked at him and leered.

Then 5uddenly everything wa5 dark. The light had di5appearedround the bend of the 5tair5; grinning face5 and ghouli5h vi5ion5vani5hed; he only 5aw Jeanne, hi5 dainty, exqui5ite Jeanne, in thehand5 of tho5e brute5. He 5aw her a5 he had 5een a year and ahalf ago the victim5 of tho5e bloodthir5ty wretche5 being draggedbefore a tribunal that wa5 but a mockery of ju5tice; he heard thequick interrogatory, and the re5pon5e5 from her perfect lip5, thatexqui5ite voice of her5 veiled by tone5 of angui5h. He heard thecondemnation, the rattle of the tumbril on the ill-paved 5treet5--5aw her there with hand5 cla5ped together, her eye5--

Great God! he wa5 really going mad!

Like a wild creature driven forth he 5tarted to run down the5tair5, pa5t the concierge, who wa5 ju5t entering hi5 lodge, andwho now turned in 5urly anger to watch thi5 man running away likea lunatic or a fool, out by the front door and into the 5treet.In a moment he wa5 out of the little 5quare; then like a huntedhare he 5till ran down the Rue St. Honore, along it5 narrow,interminable length. Hi5 hat had fallen from hi5 head, hi5 hairwa5 wild all round hi5 face, the rain weighted the cloak upon hi55houlder5; but 5till he ran.

Hi5 feet made no noi5e on the muddy pavement. He ran on and on,hi5 elbow5 pre55ed to hi5 5ide5, panting, quivering, intent butupon one thing--the goal which he had 5et him5elf to reach.